The last three weeks did NOT go according to plan.
First I went on vacation for 2 weeks, then I came home and got sick for another week.
To make things a little more interesting, Facebook banned me for three weeks.
Seriously.. -.-
Between vacation, being sick, and Facebook deciding I apparently needed an extended vacation from them too… my business definitely got off track.
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I talk A LOT about consistency.
In fact, I recently wrote about why so many new network marketers quit too soon and why I think consistency matters so much.
So yes…the irony is not lost on me.
But there’s good news.
Even though I wasn’t being consistent, some of the systems I had already put in place were.
And I was so thankful I already had these systems in place to keep my business going.
My Online Business Automation Kept Working
One of the things I’ve been working on for a while is automating parts of my online business that don’t NEED me sitting in front of a computer every day.
Because I still work a full-time job.
I have a life.
I go on vacation.
I get sick.
And apparently I occasionally get put in Facebook jail for three weeks.
I can’t build a business that stops every time I do.
Thankfully, I already had my funnel and email marketing automation set up.
I’ve been using AI Matrix Spillover along with GetResponse for my email follow-up.
I wasn’t doing everything I normally would, but my email sequences were still going out.
People could still enter my funnel.
My follow-up didn’t depend on me remembering to sit down every day and manually send emails.
The automation just kept doing what I had already told it to do.
If you haven’t seen my original breakdown of AI Matrix Spillover and how the system works, I wrote about that here.
I also wrote more about why I thought the concept could be interesting for network marketers who are tired of doing everything manually here.
This past three weeks gave me a real-life example of WHY I’ve been so interested in automation in the first place.
Automation Isn’t About Doing Nothing
I think sometimes when people hear “automated online business” they assume it means you push a button and money magically appears.
I wish. 😂
That’s not what I mean when I talk about automation. For me, it’s about creating systems that handle the repetitive stuff.
Email follow-up is a perfect example. Someone enters my funnel today. They get the emails I’ve already created.
Someone enters tomorrow. Same thing.
I don’t have to remember who needs email #2 or who should get email #5. GetResponse handles that part for me.
That’s the kind of automation I want in my business.
Not something that replaces me.
Something that keeps the basic pieces moving when I can’t be everywhere at once.
I’ve talked before about using AI and automation as a beginner in network marketing, and after the last three weeks I believe in that approach even more.
Because life WILL eventually interrupt your perfect content calendar.
Mine certainly did.
Facebook Was a Different Story…
I had automation set up on Facebook too.
And then…
BANNED. For three weeks.
That one hurt a little more because I had already been working on growing Facebook with consistent content and automation… and earning money for my posts.
I actually documented one of those experiments here.
I had already grown one Facebook page by 549% in 60 days and decided to start fresh to see if I could repeat what I had learned.
And now here I am… starting fresh AGAIN.
Not exactly how I planned the experiment.
But that’s online business.
Things change. Platforms change. Traffic sources stop working.
Sometimes you just have absolutely no control over it.
That’s also why I don’t want my entire business depending on ONE social media platform.
Then Tonight Happened
Tonight we had a training call.
It ended up lasting about an hour and a half.
And I can’t even tell you how much I needed it.
We talked about what we’re doing.
We shared ideas. Talked business.
And somewhere during that hour and a half…
I felt myself getting excited again.
I felt like… okay. I’m ready.
Let’s do this.
And THAT reminded me of something else.
You can automate a lot of things in an online business.
You can automate emails.
You can automate funnels.
You can automate parts of your content.
You can automate follow-up.
But you can’t automate the feeling of having good people around you.
Automation Kept My Funnel Moving. People Got ME Moving.
That might be my biggest lesson from the last 3 weeks.
Automation kept my business moving when I couldn’t.
My email sequences didn’t care that I was on vacation.
or that I was sick.
or that Facebook banned me.
They just kept going.
But automation wasn’t going to sit me down and say…
“Okay Laura…enough. What are we doing next?”
That’s where having the right people around you matters.
I’m SO happy I have people who keep me accountable.
People I can bounce ideas off of.
People who are building too.
People who understand why I’m excited about a funnel, a new lead, a traffic source, or some random automation I spent three hours figuring out.
Because doing this completely by yourself can get lonely.
And when you lose momentum, sometimes you just need other people to help you find it again.
So This Week… I’m Rebuilding
I’m not going to drive myself crazy trying to “catch up” on three weeks of work.
or write 10 blog posts this week.
I’m definitely not going to suddenly post 47 times on Facebook.
and I won’t pretend I have some perfect 30-day content plan ready to go.
I’m just starting again.
My Facebook is back.
My funnel is still there.
My email sequences have been running.
I’ve got my people keeping me accountable.
And after tonight’s training call, my head is back in the game.
So this week I’m rebuilding.
In some ways…
I’m starting fresh.
I’ll change some things.
I’ll test some things.
I’ll probably mess some things up.
And I’ll document what happens here.
That’s basically what I’ve been doing with this blog anyway.
Testing traffic, testing tools, and testing automation.
Trying different ways to build an online business without chasing everyone I know.
And sharing what ACTUALLY happens.
Not just the exciting parts.
Maybe Starting Fresh Isn’t Such a Bad Thing
Three weeks ago, this wasn’t the blog post I planned on writing.
But now?
I’m kind of glad I had the reminder.
Because I got to see what happened to my business when I wasn’t able to give it my normal attention.
Some things stopped.
Facebook definitely stopped. 😂
But some things kept going because I had already put systems in place.
And then when I needed a little push to personally get moving again…
I had people for that.
Automation kept my funnel moving.
Accountability got ME moving.
And now it’s time to see what happens next.
I’m back. 🙂
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